The moment that will separate Sunday’s Metallica concert from all others occurred halfway through the setlist, when bassist Robert Trujillo and guitarist Kirk Hammett came together onstage to perform their regular duo “Doodle” segment — which ranges from from show to show and includes some vastly unexpected songs.
This time around — before a rambunctious hometown crowd at the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara — the duo delivered a segment that spoke so wonderfully to the Bay Area setting.
First, they kicked things off with a fun instrumental version of “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” the Burt Bacharach/Hal David classic that Dionne Warwick took to the Top 10 in 1967. That number led directly into a blistering Trujillo-sung take on — what else? — “California Über Alles” from legendary Bay Area punk act The Dead Kennedys.
A Warwick/DKs jam in front of some 56,000 metalheads assembled in an NFL stadium? Yeah, no one will be forgetting that anytime soon.
It was a really special moment during a night that was chock full of them, as the Metallica — the biggest Bay Area band of all time that also features vocalist-guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich — performed the second half of its long-awaited two-night stand at Levi’s.
Metallica’s lead guitarist, Kirk Hammett, performs at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)
The show easily topped the first concert on Friday (June 20), which was still quite good, but not in the A-plus Metallica league that fans witnessed on Sunday.
“Metallica is in a really good mood tonight,” Hetfield warned the crowd early in the concert. “So watch out.”
It turns out he wasn’t kidding.
Following topnotch opening sets by Suicidal Tendencies and Pantera — the later of which featured mighty Zakk Wylde on guitar — Metallica took the stage right before 9 p.m. and immediately hit the crowd with “Whiplash.”
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From that stand-out cut from the 1983 debut “Kill ‘Em All,” Metallica went into a mighty one-two-punch combination from the 1984 sophomore effort “Ride the Lightning” — a punishing “For Whom the Bell Tolls” followed by a towering version of the title track — and then rocked right through an incredible take on “The Memory Remains” from 1997’s “Reload.”
It was a titanic start to Sunday’s 16-song setlist, which — thanks to Metallica’s “No Repeat Weekend” policy on this tour — was completely different than the one many of these same fans heard on Friday. (Night 1 highlights, by the way, included “Creeping Death,” “The Day That Never Comes,” “Orion,” “Fuel” and, of course, “Master of Puppets” — read our Metallica Night 1 concert review here.)
All four musicians sounded great, as they worked the huge circular stage — which was hollow in the middle, except for the fans who were lucky enough to score spots in the so-called “Snake Pit” — and poured themselves into tracks hailing from nine different Metallica albums.
Metallica’s lead guitarist, Kirk Hammett, performs at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)
Yet, this was also one of those “Kirk nights,” where the phenomenal guitarist seems to be at the very center of pretty much every spectacular moment that happens on the stage. The dominance began with the second song of the show — as his fret work fueled the final moments of “For Whom the Bell Tolls” — and continued to bubble up again and again right through the expected “Enter Sandman” closer.
Ulrich — possibly the most underrated drummer in rock ‘n’ roll history — also had a huge night, bringing the thunder to each and every tune (well, OK, not the two duo numbers that featured just Hammett and Trujillo) and setting the tone, as he always does, for pretty much the entire show. It’s just so much fun to watch him play, as he routinely leaves his drum stool to bound around the kit, still keeping the beat, with oceans of energy.
“Watch Lars,” Hetfield rightfully instructed at one point in the show. “He’s going to headbang like a crazy man.”
Lars Ulrich points to the crowd as he plays the drums with Metallica at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)
The last quarter of the show was every bit as good as the first, as Metallica drew toward the finish line with excellent takes on “Blackened,” “Moth Into Flame” (a 2016 offering that stands as firm rebuttal to those who say the band’s great moments in the studio are all decades behind it) and “One.” Then, of course, came the “Enter Sandman” closer that fans had been waiting for since Friday.
It was an all-around brilliant show from a 40-plus-year-old band that is still operating at the top of its game.
The fact that this concert felt like something that would only happen in the Bay Area — thanks to that soon-to-legendary Dionne-Warwick-meets-Dead-Kennedys moment — just took the evening to a whole other level.
Lars Ulrich reacts to Robert Trujillo as they play with Metallica at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)
Metallica setlist June 22, 2025
1) “Whiplash”
2) “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
3) “Ride the Lightning”
4) “The Memory Remains”
5) “Lux Æterna”
6) “Screaming Suicide”
7) Kirk and Rob Doodle: “Do You Know the Way to San Jose”>“California Über Alles”
8) “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”
9) “Wherever I May Roam”
10) “The Call of Ktulu”
11) “The Unforgiven”
12) “Whiskey in the Jar”
13) “Blackened”
14) “Moth Into Flame”
15) “One”
16) “Enter Sandman”
James Hetfield performs with Metallica at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)
Metallica’s lead guitarist, Kirk Hammett, performs with Robert Trujillo, left, and James Hetfield at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)
Robert Trujillo plays the bass as he performs with Metallica at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, June 22, 2025. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)